In the film, an elderly German woman shares her life experiences with Livio, who studies nursing and takes care of her. In hearing the stories of Rosemarie’s painful childhood experiences of being separated from loved ones during World War II, to the joy of reuniting with them, her life story becomes a source of inspiration for Livio, serving as a reminder that a career in long-term health care is an opportunity to not only help others, but also become part of their history.
Cultural / Context information for the jury
After World War II, many people had to flee East Germany due to persecution and the building of the Berlin Wall. Many were separated from their families and loved ones for years. Rosemarie reflects on the impact this event had on her own family.
Our character designs were inspired by real photos from Rosemarie’s collection and the scenes from actual images of East and West Germany. We wanted the story to feel true yet palatable and poetic.
Tell the jury about type(s) of animation used and summarise any relevant challenges or techniques.
We had to condense an entire life story into two minutes, so we created detailed picture-book scenes held together by fluid camera movements and clever transitions. From a scratch on an object to peeling paint to the movement of clothing and hair, we brought an immense amount of detail to the CG. The film features 45 unique characters and 22 environments. Given the timeline and sheer volume of CG involved in this project, we developed a special shader for the groomers that makes the surface behave like actual hair would. We could control the shapes and still create great hair for our characters. We also spent a lot of time on cloth simulation so it looked and functioned properly in CG. Typically, we use standalone software for this, but this time we modeled and simulated the clothing with a proprietary tool we developed specifically for this project.